


The Price of Knowledge

by Wines_Bottle



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Gen, Human Experimentation, Tags will be added as necessary, Unethical Experimentation, WHO KNOWS!!!, certainly not me, graphic depictions of gore, unethical medical practices, why did i capitalize only some of these
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:05:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27260128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wines_Bottle/pseuds/Wines_Bottle
Summary: There was a three year gap between the end of Defender's of Berk and when Dawn of the Dragon Races began. What happened in all that time? Why don't we see anything from Hiccup on Berk? Obviously, it's because Hiccup wasn't on Berk. He was abducted by aliens!The Aqrians are a proud race of scholars, but when time is running out to find a way to fortify their people against a specific radiation, they must look towards the very edges of the known world to find any chance of protecting themselves. And the answer may lie in modifying the genes of a certain resilient viking and Night Fury.
Comments: 14
Kudos: 13





	1. Curiosity

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! This is a fun little thing inspired by a lovely Discord server I'm in where we were talking about how ecstatic Hiccup would be marvelling at modern sci-fi technology. But, of course, it's us so we can't make it fun for him. Yet. He'll be fine! Eventually...

It was accepted in Berk that curiosity was not a viking trait. For years, forgoing the Viking Way and thinking you knew better than your ancestors was audacious enough to earn you pariah status. After the defeat of the Red Death it was discouraged, but for completely different reasons. 

The most curious Viking on Berk was one Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. Whenever Hiccup got curious about something, disaster was soon to follow.

He’d seen floating lights. They weren’t stars. They moved across the sky, blinked in tandem with each other. All of Berk agreed it was either the work of the gods, or the work of evil magic. Either way, not something they felt they should treat casually. The lights were way too high up to be dragons or anything living thing of Midgard. Most of Berk, Hiccup's father included, were grimly sharpening their weapons, reinforcing the defenses and chopping lumber for the inevitable repairs a battle would bring.

Hiccup? 

Hiccup wanted to go check them out. So here he was, hiding behind the forge he was supposed to be working in, preparing for an evening scouting mission.

“Bud, let’s get a closer look,” Hiccup said, opening the saddlebag to pack the dinner he’d snatched from his house that morning.

“Hold on a second,” a voice boomed across the plaza. “Get a closer look at  _ what,  _ son?” 

“Ah haha uh, nothing?” Hiccup laughed awkwardly, hiding the food behind his back. “What-whatever gave you, uh gave the idea we’re ah going to check out the lights I mean check out what?”

Stoick raised his eyebrow. “Just. Just finish in the forge for Gobber. I’ll see you at home  _ tonight.  _ Gobber, would you like to join us?” 

“No, I actually have ta-” Gobber paused when Stoick pointedly cleared his throat. “Ah, I’ll walk over with ‘iccup.”

Hiccup huffed, but put the food on an empty shelf and grabbed his apron.

A few hours later, the three Haddocks, blood and honorary, were seated around the dinner table in the Chief’s home. The littlest Haddock poked at his food while the bigger loomed over him, glances and sighs exuding disappointment. That really killed what appetite Hiccup had for the unseasoned yak steaks and cabbage dinner.

“I’m done,” Hiccup announced quietly. He pushed his plate away and meant to stand up, but he saw his father put down his fork as well.

“Son.”

“...Dad.”

Stoick opened his mouth, paused, and closed it, looking down. “I-” he tried. 

Hiccup settled back in his chair. Even after the Red Death, their “conversations” usually were like this. Awkward, and neither knowing what to say. “Hiccup, you’re going to be chief one day. To put it frankly, you can’t be here for your people if you’re not  _ here. _ You can’t just run off and leave them every time something catches your fancy,” Stoick finally said. “If you did that as chief, who’d lead them into battle? Or defend Berk? Or send for allies? Or reassure the people? Hiccup, you have a  _ responsibility.” _

“Yeah, to making sure the tribe thrives. What if the lights are a  _ good sign _ , Dad? Why can nothing  _ ever  _ be solved peacefully?” 

“Hiccup, we’re  _ Vikings-”  _

“Oh yeah, which means we always fight. Right.”

“No, it means we prepare for the worst.”

“And what about hoping for the best? You know the second half of that saying?”

“‘Hope’ doesn’t protect the village.”

“Yeah, but  _ sometimes _ it makes that not necessary. Know how I ended a 300 year war? I was  _ nice.  _ Because usually, if you  _ don’t _ attack things, then they won’t attack back.”

“‘Usually’!”

“Yeah, and  _ usually  _ we win! It’s never certain!”

“Aye, but it’s still best to be safe!”

“ _ You’re the one preparing for a war!” _

_ “I’m protecting the village!” _

_ “From something that might not even be REMOTELY interested in attacking!”  _ Hiccup glared at his father. “Why can’t you just accept that  _ maybe _ the Viking way isn’t the best? Look at how many people it’s killed! It got  _ Mom  _ killed! But you’re still so obsessed with ‘Vikings’ you push away anything that doesn’t fit!”

Stoick rose from the table, face red with fury. “Don’t you  _ dare-” _

“Oh, I dare! I’m not a Viking! I  _ know!” _

_ “Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third-” _

“Do you even know what my favorite color is? Or my favorite meals?”

“How is this  _ remotely  _ relevant?” Stoick didn't answer.

“Because you push away anything that’s not Viking enough! You did with me for  _ years!  _ Then I do a Viking thing and slay a dragon, and  _ suddenly  _ dragons and by extension me are all Viking enough, but on literally  _ anything _ not related to that? You don’t care! You don’t listen! You don’t pay attention to me if there’s not some dragon causing trouble!” Hiccup yelled, gesturing to Toothless. He blinked back tears.

“Hiccup that’s  _ not true-” _

“Can’t you just trust me? Didn’t it work well before?”

“Trust the  _ Hiccup _ way of just  _ waltzing up  _ and hoping you don’t get  _ stabbed? _ ” Didn’t this boy have an ounce of self-preservation? Stoick would  _ not  _ let his precious son get murdered in such a foolhardy way.

“It STOPPED A WAR!”

“AND NOW WHAT? FOR ALL WE KNOW, THOSE LIGHTS ARE THE GODS COMING TO SMITE US. THE ‘HICCUP’ WAY COST YOU YOUR LE-”

_ “WELL I WISH IT’D COST YOU AND NOT MOM!”  _ Hiccup screamed, tears pouring down his face. The room stilled, silent except for Hiccup’s heaving gasps. Then, as if some spell was broken, he turned and ran out the door. 

“That went well,” Gobber said.

“You couldn’t have spoken up?” Stoick growled, glaring at the table below his fists. 

“And said what? He needs to stay, but he also needs time to cool off. He won’t ever start just magically start blindly following you," Gobber pointed out.

Stoick sighed.

“That boy…”

“Is independent and curious as they come. He’ll be fine. Especially with that Night Fury of his.”

Stoick looked forlornly at the Haddock door. 

“I hope you’re right.”

* * *

“He’s heading  _ towards _ us?” Loq, Captain of the _Investigation_ asked. He stood in the main brig peering over the shoulder of the Security Head at the screen showing zoomed in visuals of the planet below them. More specifically, the black blur with a splash of green they could barely make out against the evening light. 

“It would appear so, Sir,” Qral’erg replied. Strange. Typically, they did not have the luck that their subjects of choice would seek  _ them _ out. 

“Well. Wait for them to get close, then capture them,” Captain Loq ordered. Maybe this expedition would give them the answers they desperately needed. Maybe they’d  _ finally  _ found the secret to health they’d sought after for years.

“Of course, Sir.”

* * *

As Hiccup and Toothless flew closer, Hiccup started to doubt that the lights weren’t just weird stars. No matter how far he and Toothless flew, they never got closer. Whatever they were, they were much higher than a dragon could ever reach. 

Hiccup furrowed his eyebrows. “Let’s set down, bud.”

Toothless landed and prowled around the clearing, listening for any wild dragons, or worse, Berkians coming after their wayward heir. Hiccup, however, peered up at the sky.  _ How are we supposed to get up there?  _ He wondered.  _ Toothless can only go so high before I can’t breathe anymore. _

Perhaps the fact that they were so out of reach meant that Toothless and Hiccup were never supposed to find out what the blinking lights are. 

Eventually, Hiccup sighed. “Let’s go home, bud.”

But as soon as he stood up to mount Toothless, he felt a prick of some _ thing _ in his neck. The ground swayed beneath Hiccup who grabbed at where he  _ thought  _ Toothless was, but missed and fell to the ground. He vaguely registered Toothless crowing in concern, but he was more occupied with the gray and white blurs coming towards him. 

Then, he heard Toothless roar, crash to the ground, and fall silent. 

Despite his best attempts, blackness pulled Hiccup out of reality.

* * *

“I feel bad about this,” Ter’ith said.

“We all do,” the Captain Loq assured. “But it’s necessary if we want our children to survive. You know that.” 

“But this human…. He’s a child, too,” Ter’ith replied. 

“Don’t tell me you’re regretting this. Have you forgotten why you signed up? If we can’t find a way to make ourselves resilient to this radiation, our entire species will  _ die _ . Don’t you think an entire species is worth one life? An entire  _ planet?” _

“Well yes, but… Looking at him now, I can’t help but feel like this is  _ wrong,”  _ Ter’ith admitted, shaking his head and backing away from the relaxed body of the poor boy unconscious on the examination table, blissfully unaware of the danger he was in.

“It’s… it’s _ not _ right. In no world is _ this _ moral. But it’s the lesser evil. He’s saving billions of lives through his suffering. We’ll remember him as a hero.

“Besides, we have our orders.”


	2. Pulsar

Before Hiccup even opened his eyes, he could tell something was deeply wrong. The floor beneath him felt like stone, but so much smoother than even any piece of carved stone he’d ever felt. There was a light piercing his eyes even through his closed eyelids. Hiccup moaned and turned his head to offer them some relief. He put a hand to his head and sat up.

He could feel himself swaying through all the cotton someone had stuffed in his head. It made it hard to think. Hiccup grimaced and opened his eyes to squint at his surroundings which were impossibly white. Whiter than anything he’d ever seen, even fresh snow with the sun blazing overhead. The only splash of color in the entire room was him. 

Someone had even changed his clothes to a simple pure white tunic with no ties and trousers with a drawstring. And, if the raw feeling of Hiccup’s skin didn’t betray him, he’d even been _bathed_ . Sitting up, Hiccup finally looked at himself in confusion. Someone had traced paint over his veins, the pulse point in his wrist, and a pressure point on his elbow. A quick check under his clothes revealed that the marks and even what could only be _writing_ continued all across his body. What disturbed Hiccup was the yellow marks noting the more…. Sensitive areas. He followed the lines of yellow and blue down even _under his pants._ Someone had taken his _unconscious body_ and— and _touched it_ _,_ drawn on it—

Heart racing in disgust, Hiccup stumbled to his feet. 

And fell over when the floor heaved beneath him. The floor was so polished he could even make out his reflection. 

Hiccup heard a sad croon from behind him. Hiccup whirled around to find that the wall behind him was a giant sheet of glass looking into another room like the one Hiccup was in. Except that room had _Toothless_ , Hiccup breathed, ignoring his vertigo to rush to the glass. He tripped over his own feet on the last step and ended up falling right next to it.

Tentatively, Hiccup pressed his hand to the glass and reeled back in surprise. It was _warm_. Or, not warm, but not cold like he’d expected. The glass was tinted white, which made Toothless look gray. Hiccup had thought it was frost, but it was something else in the glass itself.

Toothless groaned and lifted his head. Upon spotting Hiccup, he had much the same reaction as Hiccup had. Toothless pressed himself into the glass separating him like he hoped he’d be able to melt through and be with his rider again. But alas, the wall remained oppressively solid. Hiccup sighed and pressed his forehead to the glass.

“I don’t know where we are, bud. I don’t know what to do,” Hiccup admitted. Toothless purred, and pressed his forehead against where Hiccup’s was. Hiccup choked back a sudden wave of despair. He just wanted to pet Toothless. For Toothless to pull him and tuck him under his wings. Hiccup wouldn’t even complain about being licked, if they could just comfort each other. 

But the wall remained solid.

* * *

“They immediately run to each other,” observed A’nilk, the head of the science department of the Aqrius, ship, _Investigation_.

“They probably find comfort in each other,” Ter’ith said. He smiled at the sight of them pressing as close to each other as they could. At least the boy would have _some_ comfort. 

“That’s irrelevant. We’re looking at healing and regenerative abilities, not _emotional stability,”_ A’nilk chided. “I’m surprised at how fast he woke up after we moved him there from the initial examination. It looks like his metabolism is higher than we suspected for an organism of his size. Perhaps he is undergoing puberty.”

“I’ll set up tests to determine what he likes to eat,” Ter’ith volunteered. A’nilk shook her head. 

“Don’t bother. He will eat, he will endure tests, and he will likely die while we get what we need. His comfort is irrelevant.”  
“But we can still offer small mercies,” Ter’ith argued.

“Don’t get attached. He is a test subject. His sole role here is to provide us knowledge. Don’t forget what’s at stake here. Certainly not for some. Some _singular_ life form whose kind _isn’t_ facing extinction. There will be more like him.” With that, A’nilk left. 

_But his father won’t think that,_ Ter’ith thought, the first seeds of guilt being sown in his stomach.

* * *

After sitting curled up for about an hour, Hiccup’s head finally cleared enough for him to stand without falling. He paced around this strange room. The unnaturally white light was emitted by glowing bars stretching across the ceiling. There was nowhere Hiccup could stand in this room where he could make out a shadow. Additionally, the walls except for the one looking into Toothless’s room were white as well, which Hiccup had seen before, but closer examination yielded that they were also that strange smooth and slightly reflective material that made up the floor. 

The thing that worried Hiccup was the lack of a door. No handle, no seam, no hinges, no anything. There was nothing. Just white.

Peering through the glass wall showed that Toothless’s room was the same. There was absolutely no indication of anything beyond these four walls that made up their new, much tinier world.

Hiccup took a shuddering breath. How are they supposed to escape if there’s _no doors?_ What if the rooms were underground, and there was nothing but dirt outside? Or if they’d been cast to the bottom of the ocean? 

Hiccup fell to his knees. He was gasping, now, he could hardly hear Toothless’s worried gurgling. Was it just him, or did the air seem staler? Was that water he saw leaking in the walls? Their reflectivity made it too hard to tell, but Hiccup could almost smell he salty air, feel the cold water that would rise and drown him. Hiccup was heaving for air now, on his hands and knees. What was happening? 

The wall both loomed above him and crowded him in. They were _trapped._ They would run out of air and die here, in this box someplace no one would ever find them. Had he been unconscious long enough to breathe all the air in here? Is that why he couldn’t now?

Hyperventilating, Hiccup squeezed his eyes shut.

When he opened them, he found himself someplace different. It was still that cursed white. It was still too bright. But there were _things_ here. Cabinets, chairs, tables, and weird machines whose functions Hiccup couldn’t make out. And, unfortunately, restraints across his wrists, biceps, waist, thighs, ankles, and even one across his forehead and chest tying Hiccup down to a padded table in the room’s center. The strap across his head thankfully allowed Hiccup to lazily turn it, trying to blink out the light and the second round of cotton head. 

He found a window. It didn’t look outside, but to another room. There were strange creatures in there, and they were all staring at him.

Despite the distance and the glass in the way, Hiccup could see that they were all about as tall as his father, but looked to be about half-way in between being as skinny as him and as thick as the vikings from Berk. They had four fingered hands with semi-webbed pudgy fingers. Their hairless skin was grey, and they had large, glassy eyes set in their bald heads. 

Some were taller than others, some had lighter skin and spots of lighter gray or darker gray, and their eye colors varied from mud brown to a watery green. Unsettled, Hiccup looked away from their intense gazes just in time to hear a soft _whoosh_ and the sound of something sliding. Coming from the wall behind his head. No matter how he craned his neck, Hiccup couldn’t tilt his head back far enough to see. 

As he should have guessed, one of the creatures approached his bedside, not that Hiccup particularly cared. After the panic he’d had back in the empty room and whatever drug they’d used to knock him out, Hiccup just wanted to go back to sleep and deal with this all later. 

One of them, one that had gray eyes and a more oval-shaped head opened a box and took out long, needle-like things that it attached to its hand-appendage. Hiccup squirmed in his restraints, imagining the sharp points being impaled into his soft flesh, but he relaxed a moment later when the creature merely flexed his hand, and by extension, the invention. Hiccup watched, fascinated, as the creature used the claws to pick up small white circular pads that it probably couldn’t on its own. Maybe introducing something like that back home would help some vikings with work with finer details. 

_Home._ How long had he been gone? Was his father even looking for him after that argument they'd had, or did Stoick assume Hiccup ran away?

But Hiccup was pulled out of his thoughts by the thing holding his head with one hand (Hiccup decided, for simplicity’s sake, to just call the flipper-hand things hands) and pushing the little pad against his temple. Hiccup whimpered and tried to pull away, but the thing was stuck.

The thing made a series of growls, hisses, and weird buzzing before it paused, growled, and then said _in Norse,_

“Please hold still. This willn’t hurt.” The voice, which clearly came from the by Hiccup, was gravely and distinctly male. 

Hiccup stared. “You… you speak Norse?”

“Understand, try,” here he made some garbled noise “translator.” 

“Uh, what-what was that?” Hiccup asked, honestly feeling relieved at at least being able to _communicate_. He watched the thing pick up a tray with more pads like the one stuck to Hiccup’s temple.

“Not translate word. World? Yggdrasil translator,” the thing offered. He picked up another pad and pressed it to the other side of Hiccup’s head. 

“Uhh, what- who are you? What are you? What do you want with _me?”_ Hiccup absently rambled in an attempt to distract himself from whatever else the thing was doing to him that he was helpless to stop. Although, now that the questions were out, he wasn’t sure he wanted the answers. The creature paused and patted his arm in a surprisingly human gesture. 

“I Ter’ith. That me. Us-” _Ter’ith_ gestured behind him to the glass window separating them from the rest of the creatures- “Aqrians. We need healing. You have good healing. Make better and use.” Ter’ith paused, holding a white pad in his claws.  
“Get you translator, maybe. Talk better,” he said.

Suddenly, a disembodied voice rang through the room despite it being not Ter’ith. Hiccup glanced at the glass and saw one of the things the _aqrians_ moving its mouth. But it couldn’t be that one talking. The glass would surely muffle any sound! But, there was no one else who even _looked_ like they were talking. 

Unfortunately, the voice spoke in the buzzing, hissing, clicking language Hiccup suspected was the aqrian’s native tongue. 

Ter’ith glanced at Hiccup, said “Sorry,” and spoke no more. 

By the time Ter’ith was done placing the pads, Hiccup had two on his temples, one on the back of his neck, on his forehead, over his heart, and scattered around the rest of his body in seemingly random places, but the placement was symmetrical on both sides. 

After they were all stuck onto Hiccup’s skin, Ter’ith hooked little wires onto some bits of metal filaments on them, and the wires were connected to a bunch of what looked like metal boxes, except these boxes had lights. What they were or did, Hiccup had no idea. Hopefully, if he’d interpreted Ter’ith right, they only needed some sort of medicine from him, which would (hopefully) be painless, and they’d let him go home. He’d ask Ter’ith about it. If Ter’ith ever talked to him again. The rest of the aqrians hadn’t seemed thrilled at them talking.

And what were those strange contraptions around this room? There were vials, bottles of stuff on shelves, and also weirder looking contraptions, like (more) glowing boxes and tablets, and some sort of glowing chest with a glass front that looked reinforced to withstand Ragnarok. 

Hiccup shivered. The weird not-leather he lay on was getting cold. After a few more minutes, Hiccup was shaking violently, and his breath puffed out in front of him. He began to lose feeling in his fingers and toes, and he pulled against his restraints in an attempt to curl up and keep his body heat. It didn’t work. The cold stung his nose and ears, and Hiccup’s fingers and toes ached from it. He was starting to lose circulation. How cold was it in here? It felt like he'd gone outside without his coat. Too much longer, and he'd get frostbite! But the temperature kept dropping.

 _I'm going to die here. I'm going to die, and Dad will never know,_ Hiccup thought. Icy tears slid down his face. _No. No, I have to FOCUS! How do I get out of these restraints?_ _And how was this room getting so cold? Do these aqrians have control of the weather?_ Hiccup was in much more trouble than he thought. 

Just when Hiccup was starting to feel worriedly sleepy, the room began to warm once again and eventually Hiccup could feel the blood warming in his veins. 

A mere hour later, the room was back to a comfortable temperature. But that didn’t last long, as the temperature kept rising. Hiccup shifted in discomfort. It was getting too hot, and Hiccup’s skin was sticking against the weird leather of the padded table he was on. Sweat pooled on his forehead, dripped into his eyes. Heat like he’d never experienced outside of a raid filled the room. Hiccup wasn’t worried about hypothermia anymore. But he was sweating too much, now, precious water evaporating off of his skin. Hiccup’s head lolled to the left, and he panted in the heat, begging for mercy as the uncomfortable heat became too much. _Stop it!_ Hiccup thought. _I can’t stand this! Stop it already!_ A headache pounded in his forehead after maybe another hour. Hiccup wished they’d given him something to drink before this. The last time he’d had any food or water had been back on Earth, and the amount of times he’d been knocked out, who knew how long ago that was? Either way, Hiccup was dehydrated, and he was losing strength fast. 

Just like it had when the room cooled, eventually it returned to a normal temperature. The door opened behind him, and Ter’ith entered once again. 

“Please,” Hiccup whimpered. “Please, _stop.”_

“We can’t. Rest. You’re too dehydrated.” 

“Water?” Hiccup asked. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. 

Only to jerk them open again as a needle was _stabbed into his arm._ Hiccup hissed in pain and glared at Ter’ith. 

“This will help,” Ter’ith promised. He used a strip of something he called “tape” the needle still in Hiccup’s arm and hooked up a clear tube into it, which he attached to a bag filled with clear liquid, which dripped into Hiccup’s body. 

Unnerved, Hiccup struggled, but again, it was futile. Ter’ith went over the machines that the pads on Hiccup were attached to, and started tapping the screen. Hiccup rested. There wasn’t much else to do. Like Ter’ith promised, he _did_ start to feel better. His throat moistened again, and his headache receded. Hiccup shifted, pulling his arms away from the leatherish thing again. At the noise, Ter’ith looked up at Hiccup. 

“Ah. Can, Can I ha-have a shower? Maybe?” Hiccup ventured.

“Shower?”

“Yeah. Water? Soap? You know, cleaning off?” 

Ter’ith grunted. “Later.”

Hiccup sighed. It was probably the best he was going to get. At least he’d be able to wash the sweat off.

After a while, Ter’ith removed the tape and needle and tied a bandage around Hiccup’s elbow where it had been. Then, he left again.

Hiccup waited for the temperature to shift again. It didn’t. Hiccup breathed a sigh of relief.Nothing happened for a good long while. Not being able to see the sun, Hiccup had no idea how long he laid there, waiting for something to happen. After what seemed like _days,_ something _did_ happen.

It was getting harder to breathe, again. Hiccup’s breathing was labored. He sucked in huge gulps of air. He could _feel_ air rushing through his lungs, but his lungs ached like he was holding his breath. _I’m breathing! What’s wrong with me?_ But no matter how hard he tried, Hiccup was just not getting the air he needed. Was it the doing of those pads stuck to him? Hiccup tried to rip them off. Desperately, he tried to yank his hands free. _Maybe this time._ But inevitably, he lost the strength to struggle. His hands fell back to the table. He laid his head back. And once again, his vision blackened.

  
  


* * *

Their species was dependent on oxygen. They’d slowly drained the room of most other gases. They’d tried nitrogen first, thinking that since it was so abundant in the planet’s atmosphere, it might be what the boy required for respiration. But that had no effect. So, they drained the oxygen and there they got a reaction. The poor boy struggled for breath. Ter’ith could still see him heaving for air. Guilt pooled in his stomach. Despite his pleading that they’d found what they needed, A’nilk hadn’t restored the oxygen until the boy had passed out again. A'nilk wasn't surprised by that, but she'd been pleased that the boy's tolerance for temperatures was much higher than they'd needed. 

Ter’ith _had_ convinced them to implant a universal translator in his brain. They’d already scanned it, and the device was thankfully designed for use by many species with brains stranger than the boy’s. Ter’ith claimed that this way, they could get subjective feedback and have fuller results from their tests. Actually, Ter’ith wanted to give the boy a way to understand Ter’ith comforting him. 

Now, Ter’ith carried him to his room where he’d wake up again. 

In the meantime, Ter’ith would try to sneak in some water they had for this “shower” the boy wanted. Ter’ith would ease his suffering as much as he could.


	3. OSIRIS

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time flies when your being tortured or searching for family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know I haven't been capitalizing "aqrians" but recently, a friend of mine, the lovely Ashleybenlove (Go check her out!!!) pointed out that I should. I was going along the reasoning that since "aqrians" is the common species name, I shouldn't capitalize it because we don't capitalize other species names like "cat," "dog," or even "human."   
> I'm going under assumption that proper nouns include names/descriptors (Like how you capitalize Brazil and Brazillian) but unless you're doing biology, nothing gets less descriptive than "human" because it describes literally, the entire species.  
> So. If multiple sentient/intelligent lifeforms walk into a bar, is describing them by their species descriptive enough to be considered a proper noun and therefore be capitalized?

Waking up wasn’t fun. It hadn’t been the last several times he'd done it, mostly because he had woken up somewhere new, somewhere he hadn’t fallen asleep in. 

This time when Hiccup opened his eyes, he was back in the empty room. He still didn’t like the fact that these aqrians could just knock him out and take him wherever they wanted, but at least he hadn’t woken up in a torture chamber or something. 

Hiccup groaned through his pounding head and sat up. 

“I’m sorry your rest wasn’t peaceful,” a clear voice said softly, “But I did bring you water and soap I modified to help your skin.” 

Hiccup looked up.

For a moment, he panicked at seeing the hulking gray shape before him, but he calmed just as fast.

_ Ter’ith. _

The only one who seemed to view Hiccup as a person.

Except Toothless, but there was only so much comfort he could give Hiccup while being locked in another room.

Hiccup nodded. “Thanks.”

“I also brought you food,” Ter’ith offered, setting the plate down and sitting next to Hiccup. Hiccup’s stomach growled at the word “food,” so he pulled the plate closer to him. There was some sort of mush with white powder on it. He blinked and looked at Ter’ith.

“It is made of all foods necessary for your health, and blended into a consistency easy to swallow,” Ter’ith explained. Hiccup nodded, and took a bite. It wasn’t bad, mostly because it just didn’t taste like anything at all. But still, it was the first meal he’d had in…

“How long has it been? 

“Hm?” Ter’ith asked.

“Since I was taken.”

“Two days.”

Hiccup stilled.  _ Two days.  _ Long enough for Stoick to notice his son was missing. Was Stoick looking for him? Hiccup’s parting words were pretty final. It was nice to think his father still cared about him, even though he’d probably never find Hiccup. Wherever Hiccup was.

“Ter’ith?”

“Yes?” 

“Where am I?”

“You are on the ship  _ Investigation.  _ It is an interstellar ship capable of traveling past the speed of light.”

“Interstellar? What does that mean?” Hiccup asked.

“It means it travels between star systems,” Ter’ith explained. “You’re in space.” 

Hiccup laughed. “No, there’s no way.  _ Nothing  _ can fly that high!”

“Nothing from your people’s technology,” Ter’ith corrected, “But that has nothing to do with ours. We have had space travel for centuries now, but your people have just started your Golden Ages of Science. But enough about that. I don’t think I ever got your name.”

“Hiccup.”

“Hiccup?” 

“That’s my name.”

“Strange name,” Ter’ith mused.

“So is Ter’ith,” Hiccup countered. 

“Strange to  _ you,  _ human,” Ter’ith ribbed. 

“And ‘Hiccup’ is perfectly normal where I’m from!” Hiccup defended. It was nice, laughing and joking. It served as a good distraction from the distress thinking too hard about  _ everything _ would cause.

“Why can you suddenly speak Norse so well?” Hiccup asked.

“I was never able to speak your language. I have a translator, which allows me to de-code languages, even non-verbal, and understand it in my native tongue. It also allows me to partially speak in another’s, but it is nowhere near as effective as it is when both parties have translators,” Ter’ith explained, casually.

“Wait. Translator? Where?” Hiccup asked. He hadn’t seen anyone else! Was it someone from the window looking into that room?

“It’s a little piece of metal we call a ‘translation chip’ that is inserted in the person’s brain.”

“Oh,” Hiccup replied. “Did it hurt?”   


Ter’ith chuckled. “You can ask yourself that.

Hiccup’s mind screeched to a halt. “What _?” _

“Yes, I convinced the head of the department to give you a chip before we brought you back here.”

A chill ran down Hiccup’s spine. “You— you. You  _ cut open my head _ . And. You just rooted around sticking things in my  _ brain _ ?” He screeched.

“It allows you to translate every language,” Ter’ith repeated. “What’s the downside?”

Hiccup’s stomach heaved. He fell forwards onto his hands.

_ “What else have you done to me?”  _ He demanded. 

“Hiccup, it’s ok—”

“ _ It’s not okay!”  _ Hiccup shouted, surging to his feet. “It’s! It’s!  _ You should have asked!” _

Hiccup wiped tears out of his eyes. Even— Even  _ Ter’ith,  _ the only aqrian showing the tiniest shred of kindness to Hiccup thought he could just  _ take Hiccup  _ and do  _ whatever he wants! _ Was Hiccup some sort of  _ toy  _ or  _ pet  _ that Ter’ith thought he knew best for? Did Hiccup’s choice mean  _ nothing?  _

“Hiccup, I’m sorry,” Ter’ith tried. 

“Get out.”

“Hiccup—” 

“ _ Get out!”  _ Hiccup threw the bowl at Ter’ith, spilling gruel everywhere. Ter’ith cast one last guilty look at Hiccup, but let him be. 

The gruel contrasted nicely to the empty, white room. 

* * *

_ “I wish it’d cost you and not mom!”  _

That sentence, that simple sentence, had haunted Stoick ever since it left his son’s mouth. It occupied his thoughts and barred him from sleep the entire night. He tossed, he turned, but his broken heart prevented any position from being comfortable enough to even doze in. 

Stoick’s father had always stressed the importance of keeping a cool head.  _ “Things said in anger are bastardizations of the truth,”  _ Stoick had heard every time he’d ever raised his voice. But that meant that there was a kernel of truth in his son’s parting words.  _ I wish it’d cost you and not mom!  _ Did he? Did Hiccup detest him that much?

Stoick would clear the air with Hiccup in the morning. Stoick had his own apologies to make, too.

Morning came, and the only shut eye Stoick had gotten was blinking. 

“Morning,” Gobber greeted when Stoick walked past the forge. “Where’re you off to?”

“The academy,” Stoick answered. “I have to talk to Hiccup.” Gobber reeled back from the window.  
“You didn’t talk with him this morning?”  
“No, he was gone by the time I woke up. I think he’s still avoiding me because of last night,” Stoick said.

“The argument.” Gobber nodded.

“Aye. I... I went too far,” Stoick admitted. “I need to tell Hiccup that.”  
“And ye won’t say anything about Valka?” Gobber raised his eyebrow.  
“That too,” Stoick gruffed, “But he was right. I was being stubborn.”

“Aye, ye were,” Gobber agreed. Stoick glared at him, but it lacked any real heat. 

“Go get your boy. If he hasn’t flown off about those lights by now.”  
And wasn’t the reminder of Hiccup flying off to who-knows-where _just_ what Stoick needed right now?

  
  


Hiccup was not at the arena. He wasn’t there, he wasn’t home, he wasn’t anywhere in town.

Stoick, of course, was annoyed by that. Didn’t the boy have any sense? But, he’d always had his head in the clouds, even if it hadn’t always been literal. He was prone to wandering off, and having a dragon just made it worse, made it harder to track him down. 

But he’d be back. Then he and Stoick would talk. And, for perhaps the first time in much longer than should be, Stoick would listen.

  
  


Hiccup didn’t show up for dinner that night. Or breakfast the following morning. The annoyance gave way to worry. Was Hiccup hurt? Was he trapped or captured? Stoick dispatched not only the riders, but  _ anyone _ with a dragon to go find his son. He himself took a fleet west to where the lights had been, but they were gone. They sailed until they were forced to return home or starve at sea. Stiock packed even  _ more _ provisions and sailed off again. There was no sign of Hiccup.

  
  


Three blurred together and hazy months after his son’s disappearance, Stoick lay awake once more. Ever since Hiccup disappeared, Stoick had relapsed into how he’d reacted to Valka’s disappearance. He searched, desperately combed every place he could think of. But unlike Valka, there had been no destination in the mind of the dragon that had flown off with Hiccup. There was no reunion waiting, if he could only find the nest. Hiccup had left. 

_ I wish it’d cost you and not mom!  _ The final words Stoick’s son had ever said to him. 

And, like Valka, Hiccup haunted his every thought.

  
  


Stoick was a man of routine. He got up, ate breakfast, and grabbed his axe. A Viking was never without a weapon. Except Hiccup. His son, who he’d gifted axes for his every birthday, and swords for every Snoggletog. And what had Hiccup wanted instead? Stoick hadn’t the slightest idea. He was tempted to think perhaps dragons, but his son’s interest in those hadn’t started until peace.

Stoick walked towards the Great Hall, where he’d be available if any Viking wished to raise specific concerns. As Stoick walked down the path and looked over his village, he smelled the fresh summer breeze. It was as warm as Berk ever got today, and the village was full of the rare sight of green leaves and grass. Green like the tunics Hiccup wore, because that’s what Stoick gave him. Did Hiccup like green? Stoick didn’t know. Hiccup had never complained. But Stoick didn’t know if Hiccup had truly never complained, or if Stoick had never listened.

Stoick plastered a smile on his face as he waved to his people. Most waved back. The teens, Hiccup’s friends, did not. Astrid snorted at him and looked away. Snotlout openly glared, while Fishlegs avoided his eye, and the twins ignored him. Stoick understood why they were angry. He had called off all searches for Hiccup. Obviously, his boy didn’t want to be found. But to Hiccup’s friends, it was like Stoick had given up on him. 

But they hadn’t always been Hiccup’s friends, had they? Hadn’t Snotlout used to glare at Hiccup like that? Hadn’t Astrid avoided him, too? He was always small, always not quite enough for the Viking way. Plenty for Stoick’s heart. He’d always known that Hiccup wouldn’t be a Viking but that hadn’t mattered to the father. Stoick loved him no matter what. 

But the teens hadn’t. Had they?

Had Hiccup been alone all those years?

* * *

  
  


Hiccup hated being alone. There was Toothless in the next room, of course, but the glass wall separating them might as well have been solid metal like the rest. Hiccup and Toothless both craved physical affection. Hiccup would stroke Toothless’s scales, scratch him, lean into him, and Toothless would drape his wing over Hiccup, pull him close, or bump his head into Hiccup. They were practically attached at the hip. They were always together. Not always touching, but always just a thought away from physical affection. Being a wall away was hard. Hiccup could see Toothless, sure, but he couldn’t hear the rumbling purr of Toothless reassuring him, nevertheless receive some much needed hugs. It was almost like Toothless wasn’t there at all, except worse, because his dragon was so tantalizingly close, but just beyond his reach. 

Hiccup sighed and curled up. There wasn’t anything he could do to change his situation. Nothing would make the aliens let him have his bud back, or let them out, or take them home, or get him some warmer clothes because he was just cold enough to be uncomfortable here.

Nothing he could do to change what he’d said to his father before he left. 

Hiccup had meant to come back, really! He’d just needed time to cool off! He hadn’t at the time, but now he desperately wanted to apologize. He didn’t care if it made him look weak, or shameful, or  _ anything _ if he could just go home and eat dinner with his dad, and watch Toothless swallow down fish like there’s no tomorrow. If his dad would hug him, tell him he loved him.

Tears blurred Hiccup’s vision, but it didn’t matter. There was nothing in this room to look at anyway. It didn’t matter, because Hiccup had been disowned before for less. After what he said, his father was probably  _ glad  _ he was gone. Even if he escaped, there was no hope. There was nothing to go back to.

Fortunately, Hiccup _did_ have Ter’ith, who talked to him whenever he brought Hiccup food. Over his (what he assumes to be) months of captivity, Ter’ith taught Hiccup a bit about this strange new world Hiccup and Toothless had found themselves in. Ter’ith told Hiccup not only about new materials like “plastic,” “computers,” and the intercom system that had baffled Hiccup during the first observation, but also about more mind-blowing things like space travel and the fact that Hiccup’s Earth was actually round. Crazy as it sounds, the twins were right!  
Hiccup also learned the grim truth about why exactly the aqrians had captured him. He’d listened as Ter’ith apologized over and over about the necessity of testing regenerative healing on him. He was supposed to be saving a planet by suffering here. 

The worst news was that he’d been moving from the “observation” stage and into the “experimentation” stage. Over the past few months, Hiccup had been cut, burned, electrocuted, bruised, he’d had tubes shoved down his throat to force feed him liquids he usually threw up or suffered painful stomach aches after. Several times, he’d puked up blood and woken up getting his stomach pumped in the lab. He’d had drugs injected into his arm, and they made him numb, over-sensitive, delirious, zoned out, hyper-aware, way too energetic, way too lethargic, jittery. And they always left him aching and with a horrible headache. 

And according to Ter’ith, that had been the kinder part. 

According to Ter’ith, that was all meant to see how Hiccup’s body worked. 

According to Ter’ith, now they were going to try actually experimenting on him, forcefully changing his body into something  _ they  _ wanted him to be _.  _


	4. Ferret

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Allllright  
> So first off: Thank you for the resounding support! I know most of my readers are probably the guys on the discord this idea was birthed from but you know what?  
> At least I know y'all like it lol. For anyone not on the discord, thank you for reading! And sorry for the longish wait for the chapter, but here it is.   
> Also, we should be nearing the end of exposition here. There was a lot to set up, but now the ball's going to start rolling here pretty soon.

If you asked Hiccup about the last time he tried to escape, he wouldn’t be able to recount what happened. 

He wasn’t even sure what  _ had _ happened, to be honest. One second he was tearing down the hall, the next, he felt fire itself racing through his veins. The pain was so consuming, he couldn’t see, couldn’t hear. He only knew he was screaming because he could feel the angry throbbing of his vocal cords vibrating. A careless hand grabbed his arm and dragged him across the floor. The friction of it, even as smooth as it was, caused the fire to scorch his flesh beyond hope of ever using it again. 

His vision cleared a few minutes later, and Hiccup found himself gasping for breath, trapped in a glass tube. In desperation, he slapped his hands against the glass and paused. His flesh looked completely fine. Still, Hiccup whimpered in pain.

He whimpered again in fear when he could feel some liquid splashing on his head. He looked up to see what looked like blue tinted water pouring into the tube from a pipe in the glass ceiling. Hiccup sobbed and began hitting the glass, despite the pain. He yelled, screamed, and begged for help. The figures outside his prison watched impatiently. The water felt like ice, but it aggravated the pain instead of soothing it. Still, Hiccup had no choice but to ignore the throbbing pain in favor of swimming in the hopes of not drowning as the water level swiftly rose above his head. 

The water level eventually reached the top of the tube. Hiccup pounded on the ceiling. He knew no one would release him, but maybe he could break the glass. Hiccup hovered there, holding his breath, until his lungs burned even more than they already had. Hiccup’s lungs pulled in a deep breath, but were filled with the water instead. Hiccup’s vision began to go black. He went limp. Thankfully, the burning faded. 

Hiccup had no idea what kind of afterlife this death would give him, but he was certain that after everything he’d gone through, it would be pretty good.

Except he woke back up on his pillow, body littered with bandages from needles, bruises, and actual burns. And the marker lines measuring them.

So Hiccup was more docile, after that.

The pillow, in stark contrast, was the best thing that had happened to Hiccup here. Well, except for one other thing. After the first day or so of sleeping on the hard floor and toughing through a sore body, stiff limbs, and painful cricks in various muscles, Hiccup had returned to his room to find that what was basically a pillow the size of a bed had been placed in the corner. “Too much interference in data,” Ter’ith had explained when Hiccup asked about the pillow’s sudden appearance.It was also the  _ only  _ thing in the room. It was large enough to lie stretched out on, and it was extremely soft, softer than even his own bed at home. Truly, one of the only joys he had discovered in this mundanely damning hellscape. In Hiccup’s mind, a perfect world was his life on Berk, but with the pillow and Ter’ith. 

The only downside was that whenever Hiccup was awoken for more procedures, it was all that more tempting to lie back down and sleep more. But whenever he attempted that, the guards, for lack of a better term, would grumble, grab his arms and drag him to the lab, where the impatient scientists would conduct their tests with even less regard to his comfort than usual. Before the first time Hiccup had dared delay a test, he had thought they were as inconsiderate as they could be. Apparently, he was wrong as the needles that took his blood that time were jabbed into his arm even more haphazardly than usual, and the measured incision was made with less care than it should have been. It was deeper than it was supposed to be, and therefore skewed their data. That experiment had had to be repeated, much to Hiccup’s annoyance. And really, wasn’t it sad that after two months here, being routinely slashed open was only a mere annoyance now? It still hurt like hell. Hiccup never got used to the pain, but he knew that whatever happens to him here, he would survive. These aqrians wanted him alive, unfortunately.

As for the best thing that had happened to Hiccup while in captivity? Well, one day about two months in (Hiccup only knew *that* because they’d based his feeding schedule off of the length of Earth days, so he could track time by counting meals), Hiccup was woken by something shaking his shoulders.  _ Great.  _ Hiccup groaned, but sat up, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. He wished he could sleep more. 

He was brought out of his musings by tongue crossing his face. Finally, Hiccup dared to open his eyes.

He and Toothless were still in the white rooms. 

But the glass was gone.

And Toothless stood by his side, grinning madly at him.

_ Toothless was here. _

Hiccup launched himself at his dragon. After so long without it, no amount of physical contact to ease the burning  _ need _ Hiccup felt for it. Hiccup stroked every part of Toothless he could reach, laughing in relief all the while. He slid his hands over Toothless’ twitching wings, his abdomen wiggling from excitement, the soft scales on his underbelly, the hard plate scales of his legs. One place he could not reach was Toothless’ head, but only because it was too busy nuzzling him back and licking every part of him it could reach. 

Hiccup was soon drenched in slobber, but he hardly cared. He missed it. 

Eventually, the pair settled down, curled up together on the pillow. Toothless clutched Hiccup as close as he could in his forelimbs, and Hiccup’s own were wrapped around Toothless’ neck. He could feel his dragon’s wet breath puff over his back. It felt incredible, after so long longing for it. The mere thought of hugging Toothless had for so long been one of Hiccup’s greatest wishes that he hardly thought it was real. But if he was dreaming, he’d stay asleep forever.

Eventually, their meals came. They didn’t separate on the way over to it, nor while they ate, nor when they were finished. They stayed pressed up against each other for 20 more meals. A week. 

Then, the room was flooded with gas once more, and Hiccup woke up in the lab to Ter’ith injecting something into his arm.

In the days falling that, Hiccup fell ill, which was surprising given that the aqrians had taken so much care to keep Hiccup’s facilities sterile so no illness or unplanned injury would interfere in their experiments.

He sat in his room, battling a fever and a stuffy nose, which was  _ really  _ not awesome on top of the aliens who were experimenting on him. They’d left Toothless alone, for the most part. Or at least, he was usually there when Hiccup was taken away and when he came back, so Hiccup assumed that whatever the aqrians wanted, they wanted from him specifically.

It  _ was  _ kind of nice, though; not having any responsibilities he had to get up for while he was sick, like he did back on Berk. He was also left alone in that room with Toothless able to comfort him, which was the only silver lining. So Hiccup laid his stuffy head down and slept.

He woke up in the lab. Again. He wasn’t particularly surprised. Again, he was tied down with his usual constraints. Again, they drew a line about a foot long across his stomach. Again, they made a long cut parallel to the line, and the same length. Again, Hiccup struggled, screamed, and who’d blame him if he had sobbed a bit with the anticipation of watching the knife descend to his exposed body? Again, they bandaged him, and again, Ter’ith escorted him back to his room. After he’d stopped raging and banging on the walls after the first week, they’d let him walk back, if whatever injuries he’d sustained weren’t too serious. 

So you can’t blame Hiccup for not thinking anything about his illness and assuming he was still stuck in the same cycle of hurt, that he wouldn’t ever have to weather anything new in this sadistic routine.

But this time, the incision had healed completely in four days.

* * *

After about two months of meticulously gathering control data of the workings of the human body (or just Hiccup’s body. They’d chosen him specifically for a reason, after all), he had finally been moved into phase two: experimentation. 

Ter’ith supposed this was good. Their whole goal here was to find a way to add accelerated healing and regeneration into a preexisting genome. Surprisingly, human DNA with its four nucleotides happened to match up pretty well with Aqrian DNA, which also has four nucleotides. Three of them were even the same! To top it off, they had discovered that humans could regrow their livers. That was an important ability they would not overlook. They had studied several Earth lizard’s abilities to regenerate tails, but found them limited. But the regeneration of human livers was promising. After all, if the Aqrians wanted to survive the radiation storm headed their way, they would have to be able to regenerate damaged parts of their bodies until they could adapt.

Hopefully Hiccup would survive, unlike many of their other test subjects. If he did, they would probably wipe his memory, send him home, and he would have the heightened regenerative abilities from the experiment to compensate for the trauma. But survival wasn’t something any subject had achieved, yet. That was why they had begun to screen their subjects for unusually effective and fast recoveries from physical injury. Hiccup springing back in one night from being struck by lightening and his swift recovery from amputation had landed him under the aqrian’s radar, much to Hiccup’s obvious anger. His dragon as well had been well worth looking into, and some of his DNA had also contributed to the final product, but it was Hiccup’s genetic makeup that held their answers.

But unlike the progress in their studies, Hiccup wasn’t doing very well. How could he? He was trapped, tortured, and no one had told him  _ anything,  _ save for Ter’ith himself, but that was also frustratingly little. If he knew the reasoning behind this, surely, his heroic side would make him understand, then? Or would he decide it wasn’t worth it?

The thought that Hiccup would hate the very cause Ter’ith had sacrificed so much of his morals to kept him awake some nights.

And so would the plan moving forward.

“Excuse me?” 

“You heard me,” A’nilk replied.

“Surely, if there was ever a time for something as damaging as  _ this, _ it would have been in the research phase,” Ter’ith argued.

“We need to see the regrowth in action. There is a chance that cellular regrowth of this speed could cause his cells to replicate haphazardly. You know how disastrous that would be.” 

“But to  _ cut him open?” _ Ter’ith cried. They weren’t talking about an incision, this was going to be a full-on vivisection! And not a quick look, either. A’nilk planned to put Hiccup on life support so she could  _ watch.  _

A’nilk snapped a glare on Ter’ith. “Do you doubt me, or the cause, now, Ter’ith?”

“All I’m saying is that there  _ has _ to be a less invasive way to study this. We’re planning on reinforcing our healing abilities against  _ radiation,  _ not against  _ sustaining open wounds!  _ This is overkill!” Ter’ith argued. 

“If he survives, we’ll know it works better than we need. And that extra certainty will be invaluable should what we’re facing prove more disastrous than we are currently estimating.” 

“Or we could find a way to protect ourselves from the radiation.”

“And that will come through adding the subject’s gene that guards him into our genomes. But the healing factor will ensure that  _ that  _ particular process doesn’t kill us. His genome is close, but not an exact match.”

Damn confusing genetics. Ter’ith had specialized in xenobiological systems  _ for a reason,  _ and this was  _ not his field. _

“What are the chances that he survives?” Ter’ith asked. 

For the first time since they’d began experimenting, A’nilk smiled. “At this point, very likely. As long as  _ he  _ doesn’t lose the will to live.”

* * *

Ter’ith wasn’t usually up this late at night, but if anyone asked, he could always claim to be puzzling over a part of the subject’s genome he had yet to decode.

Luckily, no one thought it necessary to stop such a dedicated scientist such as himself. Not when he only had A’nilk above him, and certainly not on  _ his _ expedition of study.

The truth wasn’t anything nefarious, but would certainly violate some unspoken social rules. No one would  _ stop him,  _ per se, but he’d certainly get a few weird looks if he admitted that the reasoning behind his insomnia was dread, not for himself, but for the poor boy A’nilk wanted cut open, remove an organ from, and then sit there  _ watching it grow back.  _

He was supposed to be a scientist! Unflinching in the pursuit of truth! And here he was, quite literally flinching because he could already hear Hiccup’s screams. 

Ter’ith shuddered. He wasn’t sure if it would be crueler to warn Hiccup and doom the boy to spending the days leading up to the operation in terror and dread, or if it would be crueler to spare him those days at the expense of finding out his fate only once he was strapped down.

_ Or, _ Ter’ith stopped.  _ Or I could get him out. _

Yes. Yes, they technically had all of the information they needed. The raw data still had yet to be made sense of, but they could logic it into place later. The operation would spare them a few months of puzzling over data. That was it. 

They were running out of time, but Ter’ith knew they still had enough left. Enough for the planet to survive if Hiccup were sent home right this minute.

With that in mind, Ter’ith changed his course towards the transmission station. 

He never thought he’d assist  _ them  _ against his own people, on this, he had to.

His heart wouldn’t let him do anything else without shattering, like the poor child will if he stayed.


	5. Gravity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiccup looks deep inside himself, and reflects on the difference of his childhood and his current situation. Meanwhile, Ter'ith is faced with a seemingly easy decision with absolutely no good choices.
> 
> WARNING: You know how I have "Graphic depictions of gore" and "human experimentation" as tags?   
> Yeah. This is where it comes in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeaaaaah so  
> In my defense I hadn't seen my sister in forever, so that took from the end of finals through winter break, then I had work for like 4 days a week and 16 credit hours in college courses so. Yeah I had other priorities. But it's here!

_It is quite the surprise that I find myself writing this message. Femur my whole life, I have been raised to believe in the Aqrian cause. Our people will die. We need help, but it was refused by the other peoples of the InterNations. I was raised to believe that non-Aqrians are selfish and dismissive, and that they believe us to be lesser beings. I was told that those who oppose our great chase of knowledge that would lead to our salvation do so to ensure our genocide._

_My people will die. Without the knowledge of how to protect ourselves, that is a fact. The radiation that has been evolving since the beginning of time will wipe us out in a few mere months. We need this research. Wholeheartedly, I believe in this cause that will save all life on my planet._

_And yet, I sit here on a research ship that has already discovered this answer. Already, we have ensured our survival. Yet my coworkers wish to continue our research. For what end? The goal is met. We are saved. I stare at this test subject from a world and a species ignorant of the technological marvels that allow for translation and community of a kind not their own. I am part of this little being’s introduction to the stars. It is a painful introduction for this poor being. And it is a hateful introduction for his kind. I look at our test subject— a human, he calls himself, and I see how his eyes light up to learn. I find it hard to participate in the martyring of this boy for a cause I have so long faithfully followed. So I find myself unable to deal with absolutes anymore. I recall all I have been taught. “They will hinder us.” Hinder, definitely. But that does not mean full stop. Is the human’s fear of us deserved? Is this how the universe views my kind? Is it our methods and extremes that are pushed against and not our goals and progress? Disturbingly, I am now aware of my kind’s and my own ruthlessness. There is a part of me that is curious about the results of the lab’s experiments. But that knowledge comes with a price, one that I cannot in good conscience force this poor human to pay._

_So I give you our last known coordinates and our projected path. You have three weeks before there’s a very real chance he might die._

_Save him._

_His name is Hiccup._

  
  


When Arno responded to the General’s summons and had been handed a message from an aqrian ship, the second to last thing he had expected was a plea for help. The very last thing he had expected was a plea for help that he wanted to answer. 

“Ma’am? What do you make of this?” he said gesturing a leafy hand to the holoscreen displaying the vexing text. 

“It’s a plea to rescue some poor soul from aqrians experimentation. Obviously we’re going to answer,” the General replied firmly. 

“It’s a plea from an aqrian,” Arno elaborated.

“I know very well what kind it’s from.”

Arno nodded. “I’ll gather the crew and head out tomorrow morning.” With that, he turned to head out the door, when the General’s firm voice stopped him.

“Bear in mind,” she said, her four eyes boring holes in him, “That this is a rescue mission first and foremost. If they truly have the answers they need, _do not_ destroy it. This is our chance for a _peaceful_ resolution.”

Arno saluted.

4 hours later, Arno sat in the cockpit of the _Horizon,_ a medium-sized ship that had the standard defenses but was built for speed first and foremost. He was reviewing the formal mission statement one more time before take off. He had already briefed his team, and they were all honored to be allowed on such a high-stakes mission. If they caused too much damage, then the entire war would be reset and they’d enter a second act. Stealth was crucial. 

“Do you think this is it?” a higher-ranged voice asked. Arno turned his head to see Nork leaning against the doorway. Nork’s skin glistened with the gel her kind was famous for secreting, but in a planet’s atmosphere that was this unusually dense, it was not alight like it usually was. 

“I hope so. We sneak in, grab the target, and sneak out. Easy Peasy.”

“Knock some heads, bust a few doors down,” Nork added, grinning and smashing a fist into her other waiting hand. 

“Only if we have to,” Arno conceded. Stealth was important, sure, but no one in the resistance joined without a reason. They all had a bit of vengeance close to their hearts. Or what functioned as hearts, at least.

The sound of paws skittering past Nork’s feet dre their attention down to a little, green lizard looking thing that was the electrician of the ship, Oj. “Geerie finished the ship inspection. We’re boarding,” Oj announced. 

_Well,_ Arno thought. _No going back._

* * *

The next day was nerve-wracking for Ter’ith. He couldn’t stop fidgeting or glancing over his shoulder for anyone who might have seen what he’d sent last night. In his mind, he knew that continuing to act nervous like this would only raise suspicion. He had to keep calm while he waited for the Resistance to come raid their ship, which would hopefully take place some time in the next three weeks before— Teri’th couldn’t even say it. The thought alone forced a shudder down his cartilage spine. 

Ter’ith took a deep breath and forced himself to relax as he entered the code to open Hiccup’s door. The tiny human in the large room looked up from where he’d been lazing on the bed. 

“What now?” 

“Stamina again,” Ter’ith replied. Hiccup sighed through his nose and dragged himself up. Toothless raised his head from where it’d been lying on his paws to watch his human leave. The glass blocked the sound, but Ter’ith could still hear Toothless’ frustrated growls as his human was carted off once again.

Hiccup was silent as he walked next to Ter’ith. It was a far cry from the beginning where he had used to ask questions, whip his head around to look at every detail on the ship and plot a map in his head. Despite Hiccup’s refusal to tell, Ter’ith knew that he had been plotting an escape path. He’d nearly given up, now though. This path had been walked by Hiccup everyday for the past three months. He had already learned everything he could. 

When they reached the lab, Hiccup hopped up onto the table without prompt. 

“What’s the plan?” he asked, looking A’nilk straight in the eyes. It looked like Hiccup was going to be difficult that day.

“Stamina,” she replied curtly. 

“Oh, well that’s great. Expecting something different from the _last_ ten times you all did this?” Hiccup asked, rolling his eyes. Ter’ith snorted, but resumed his task of bringing up the correct software once A’nilk shot him a withering glare.

A scientist Ter’ith never talked to strapped Hiccup’s legs down.

“Hang on, let me stretch,” Hiccup requested with the ease that a princess would ask for a set of tea. “This is gonna be a while.”

“Actually, we’re on a time schedule, so uh. You need to lie down actually,” The scientist mumbled. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Hiccup argued, but he conceded and made himself comfortable.

“Cheeky animal,” Ter’ith heard A’nilk grumble. A flash of fury rose up at the last word. _How dare she!_

“A’nilk?” Hiccup asked after a while because he has absolutely nothing to lose here, “Can I maybe have a pillow this time?”

A’nilk slammed her notebook onto the table. “No,” she said, gritting her serrated bone ridge, “No, we do not have any _pillows_ for you today.”

“Oh, well that’s a shame. Isn’t the soreness of my neck muscles gonna throw your data off?” Hiccup challenged, smirking at A’nilk. She didn’t respond, just stomped out of the lab followed by the rest of the team. 

Ter’ith followed, after turning and giving Hiccup a smile.

Through the observation room window, Ter’ith could see Hiccup swaying his foot as he waited for the test. It proceeded much like the first time, just without Hiccup’s initial panic. 

After it was over, A’nilk addressed the crew. 

“We will spend the next two weeks going over all of our data. We want to make sure we have anything right before we continue with this operation, because this is the one that could cause irreparable harm. Once the ship leaves the Jaxin sector and we don’t have to worry about ambushes interrupting us, we will proceed with the vivisection.”

* * *

The next seven days were the most stressful of Ter’ith’s life. He had to not only cross-reference _all_ of their collected data, but he had to do so while anxiously waiting for an attack of all things and also debate whether or not he should tell Hiccup about A’nilk’s plan. As the week progressed, Ter’ith’s workload lessened, but his other two crises only became more daunting.

Finally, the dreaded day arrived with no salvation. Ter’ith went about his day robotically, both filled with a desperate hope and also hopeless of some ship attacking them at the last minute that would liberate and take Hiccup home. What hopes he had were dashed by A’nilk announcing that Ter’ith needed to fetch the human.

Ter’ith opened the door to find Hiccup sitting by the glass wall chatting to Toothless, but he turned when he heard the door open.

“Took you guys a while,” he commented.

“Yes,” Ter’ith replied softly. “Come.”

Hiccup got up and docily followed Ter’ith unknowingly to his doom. The knowledge of what he was bringing Hiccup to nearly drove Ter’ith to his knees. His flippers trembled and he took a shaky breath to gather himself.

“You ok?” Hiccup asked.

“....Yes,” Ter’ith answered. Hiccup ruefully grinned his endearing lopsided smile.

“That bad this time, huh?”

Ter’ith stopped and knelt down. He pulled Hiccup into a tight hug. “Oh, Hiccup. I’m so sorry,” He moaned.

“Ter’ith, hey,” Hiccup said, “What’s wrong?”

When Ter’ith let Hiccup go, he could see the worry Hiccup tried to hide behind his nonchalance. 

“Just,” Ter’ith said, “Just know I did _everything_ I could think of to save you. _I’m so sorry.”_

Chatter from the junction behind Hiccup and Ter’ith signalled the entrance of two more aqrians. The friends stepped apart, and Ter’ith took the opportunity to compose himself. He was overtaken by the urge to drag Hiccup to an escape pod and launch him off, damn where he would end up, or if he would even be rescued! Surely that was better than this! But his indecision cost him the time for that, and the two rounded the corner before Ter’ith could take off with the human in tow. 

It was the Captain of the ship, Loq, who despite beign a friend of Ter’ith’s, knew very little about medicine or the sciences. He had always been more adept with hypotheticals, like predicting flight patterns, planet movements and cause and effect. “Ah, are you guys finally getting around to that thing?”

“Yes. We held off until we were out of the asteroid belt. Don’t want any sudden jerks throwing anything off,” Ter’ith said, his flipper hands fidgeting. 

Loq stared at him quizzically, before noticing Hiccup standing close to Ter’ith.

“Ah! And this is your subject?” He asked. As always, Hiccup bristled at being called a ‘subject’, which didn’t go unnoticed by Loq. “Oh! You can understand us? Hey, cool! I’m Captain Loq. Nice to meet you!”

That sudden change from demeaning to welcoming threw Hiccup for a loop, especially considering that only Ter’ith had acknowledged him as more than a test subject.

“Hi,” Hiccup greeted cautiously, “I’m Hiccup.”

“I wish we could meet under better circumstances. I’m really sorry about all this, but…” _It’s worth it, to save my planet_ went unsaid, but Hiccup could feel it hanging in the air.

Just then, another aquarius rounded another corner where Ter’ith and Hiccup had been heading. “Let’s go!” They said, “A’nilk wanted to start five minutes ago!”

Time had run out.

* * *

Once again, Hiccup was strapped down to the lab table tightly enough that he couldn’t move. They had removed his shirt, washed his skin clean, and Hiccup could hear pieces of metal being moved around somewhere to his left. The reflection in the ceiling didn’t allow him to see that far, and he couldn’t turn his head, but he figured they were test tubes or pliers or something. Maybe A’nilk was preparing another syringe to inject him with, like they had some time ago.

“WHAT?” He heard Ter’ith demand from somewhere to his right. Hiccup couldn’t turn his head to see.

“I understand that you have grown attached to the subject. You will record this session. _From the observation room,”_ A’nilk ordered, drawing something over Hiccup’s chest in marker.

“I—” Ter’ith stopped. Hiccup heard him growl and stomp out of the room. Suddenly, the air felt colder to Hiccup. Ter’ith had always been allowed to comfort him! What was going to happen this time that A’nilk feared Ter’ith would stop them?

Hiccup heard a chair roll over to the table. From the corner of his eye, Hiccup could see that it was A’nilk. For once, she looked him in the eye. Was that regret?

She looked away too quickly, donned her finger pliers, and picked up something from the table. Hiccup looked up at the ceiling. In the reflection, he could see that it was metallic, but there was absolutely no telling what. It came closer to his right arm and was pushed in. Another injection. Hiccup relaxed. They should be done pretty quickly if this was an injection day. 

However, this one was connected to a tube and bandaged in place instead of being pulled out.

Hiccup shifted as well as he could in his nervousness. What was happening?

A’nilk nodded at the edge of Hiccup’s vision and suddenly there were several aqrians around Hicucp’s bedside. They all wore white sterile equipment and had masks over their faces. This was new and not comforting at all. It was usually only two or so! Why were there so many?

Another glint in the ceiling drew Hiccup’s attention up. He saw another glint of metal. This one approached his chest. Heart pounding, Hiccup tried to twist away. Whatever was happening, it was _not good_.

Of course, he didn’t succeed. His chest exploded into pain as the incision was made. _Deep._ Hope exploded in Hiccup. This must be it. Please let this be it. Hiccup could take it if this was it.

But then two more cuts were made, crossing the top and bottom of the first and making an I incision on his chest. His skin was pulled back. Hiccup squeezed his eyes shut and screamed. He writhed in his restraints, desperately trying to tug his hands out of the cuffs while sticky blood poured over his body, dripping down his sides and over his neck.

The lab had been cold moments ago, but now it was _burning_ . Hiccup gasped through the agony and squeezed his eyes shut. The aqrians bustled around him, putting _things_ around the edges of the incision. Hiccup had absolutely no idea _what,_ but it hurt. 

“Pack it tighter! It’s no good if he bleeds out!”

Hiccup whimpered, breathing hard.

His muscles were cut to match his skin’s incision and also peeled open, displaying his rib cage and organs. Hiccup’s body heaved once again, and his eyes flew open. He was met with his reflection in the ceiling. His white ribs were a stark contrast from his organs and the flaps of muscle and skin pinned to the table on either side of him. 

His stomach heaved and _oh gods he was WATCHING it heave!_

One of the aqrians quickly shoved a vacuumed mask over his face so the puke wouldn’t get in the incision. Just watching his own _stomach_ contort in that reflection, blurry as it was, sent Hiccup vomiting again. 

And the aqrians on either side were taking notes.

Hiccup whimpered deliriously in agony. He tried to steady himself with deep breaths, but that only helped so much when he could see his lungs expanding. His own lungs. Which should _not_ have air on the outside of them. This was wrong. It shouldn’t be like this, this was _so wrong_!

Hiccup heard humming to his left. A’nilk nodded. That nod sent a tidal wave of fear cascading through his battered, abused body.

“NO!” Hiccup shouted. “NO, no no no no, _please!”_

The technology involved in making a circular blade cut something so effectively would have fascinated Hiccup, but it was decidedly more revolting when that something was his rib, which was then removed from his body and set on a tray next to him.

Hiccup wailed. It was the same kind of feeling like someone was vigorously filing down his nails, but so much worse and _painful._ Hiccup sobbed in between his screams. He could feel his lung push against that new empty space and it was so _wrong_ because there should be _bone there._

Hiccup didn’t stop screaming during the removal of two more ribs, exposing his heart clearly to everyone. 

One of them poked it. “STOP IT!!” Hiccup pleaded. “ _Please,_ stop it…” 

Hiccup cried. This was violating in the most literal sense. This was him, literally laid bare, scrutinized to his core. He could keep _nothing_ hidden from them, not even his insides, which _no one,_ not even the most vile, twisted, entitled monster would ever think to prove its superiority by seeing.

“TER’ITH!” Hiccup called. “HELP ME! TOOTHLESS! TOOTHLESS, HELP!”

“LOCK THE DOORS,” A’nilk commanded. One of the aqrians on Hiccup’s side dropped whatever it was he was holding onto the _inside_ of Hiccup’s skin and ran, presumably to the door. 

It buzzed shut. Not even a heartbeat later—a heartbeat literally on display for everyone to see—and Ter’ith pounded on the door, shouting for Hiccup. But it didn’t matter. No one could help him.

A’nilk placed some sort of sensor on Hiccup’s lungs and heart. It felt like it’d been coated in acid. It burned. Everything hurt. His entire being was pain. Hiccup could barely _think_ past the unrelenting agony. _Please, get Toothless! Break down the door! Do SOMETHING!_

One of the scientists pushed his liver aside for a clear view of his stomach, a movement Hiccup both felt and watched. Through the pain, it was so surreal, to see his organs move _much_ further than they were ever supposed to. One of them lifted his stomach up a bit. Hiccup gasped and screamed again. His throat hurt from screaming. 

Here he was, being skinned and gutted like an animal, and on top of it his throat aches. 

Hiccup wanted to be home. He wanted to sleep in his bed, get up and see his dad, spend time with his friends. Mostly, he wanted his dad. He wanted to curl up in his dad’s lap like he did when he was little and sick. He wanted his dad to tuck him in, kiss his forehead and stroke his hair, tell him stories in a soft voice that only Hiccup hears.

A’nilk put his stomach back and shoved it aside to poke at his spine. 

“DAD!” Hiccup shrieked reflexively. He hadn’t screamed for his father in years, not since a dragon raid a few years back where he almost got caught in but he wished for nothing more than his father to bust down the doors, charge in with a hammer and axe swinging. Oh, if only he were there! They would have rescued Toothless. Gobber would yell in rage, and his father would set him free, pick him up. His dad would put his skin back where it was supposed to be. Gothi would stitch him up and he could forget the stupid lights in the sky. 

Hiccup clung desperately to this thought, fought to hang on to it to escape his body being pillaged, torn open, and violated.

“Daddy, Daddy, _please,”_ he sobbed. “ _Please help me…”_

He snorted the snot that was dripping from his nose while tears rolled steady down his temples, mixing with the blood on his neck that was drying into a crusty, sticky mess. 

Hiccup sobbed harder. Mercifully, he was beginning to pass in between consciousness and unconsciousness. He zoned out for what felt like seconds and years lying on that table, pinned open. 

By the time A’nilk started rooting her hand around in his intestines, Hiccup had lost his voice from screaming, but his mind had been too absorbed by the pain to know.

A’nilk began pulling his intestines out of his body and Hiccup finally passed out.


End file.
